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JAMES L.KN1 CK', vor LEXINGTON. cI-LLiNoIs.

' Letters 'Patent No. 77,385, dated 28, 1868,v

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TO ALL WHOM IT. MAY'GONGERN:

A Be known that I, JAMES L'. KNICK, of Lexington, in the county of lL cInean, and-State of Illinois, have invented la new and improved-Instrument for Extracting Hedge-'Plants and Weeds; lend I do hereby declare that the following'ie a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drswings, making s part of this iepeciiicstion, in which? Figure 1 is a 'perspective view of the improvedinstrument. Figure-2de a side view of thesame.

Figure 8 is 's longitudinal sectional view.A 4 Similar letters ol reference indicate corresponding parte in the several figures.v This invention relates to a new and improved instrument which is designed for thelus of gardeners -and' n urserymemn the operation of extracting 4 young hedge-'plants from the ground for replsnting, and also for thinning ont plan; and remaining weeds from them. Y

The-object of the invention is to"`s o.constructan instrumentffor-said purposes, thntwhils a irm gripe can be'obtefmc'ii uponl-thelstern of a plant neer its'root, th'e bark will n'ot be bruised nor injured in the act of extrncting the plsntfroin the ground. To this end, the nature of my invention consists 'in suitably pivoting or hinging together two" bars, which ere so constructed 'este form a hand1e,.and also twognipng-jaxs, and inintenpoung between these bers e spring which will lreep their jaws s ep'drated, except when forcibly pressed together the hand, seidV jswportions 'being'.lined or covered upon theirfg'riping sides with aV yielding orelsstic substance,

described;

which will protect the stems of plants during the act of extracting them from-the' ground, as will be -hereinofter To enable othersskilled in the ort to lnnderstamimy invention, will describe its construction and operation In the accompanying drawings, A A represent two here, whichmay be made entirely of metal, or, 'if desir'sv bis, they meyfhe'made ,of s. snitably strong wood, strengthened with metal. I prefer toi construct the bars of metil, of the form .substantially as vshown in the drawings, so that they een be separately cast, and afterward united, es will be `hereinafter shown. The long -hnndlelportions a a of thesel here are o fztl semi-cylindricul shape in cross-section, and are made hollow, for a'ordingl lightness, l These handle-portions are constructedlwith flat jaws bI b upon thcm, oi` the .form-represented in dg. 1, or of enyother suitable {erin-- Between the' jaws and handle-.portions are rectangular enlargementscc, which are embraced cxternelljf by a strap, d, for 'preventing lthe jawsffrom separating teo much,'snd\npon the inside of the 'hars et'ssid pointe', recess'esare formed for receiif ing a helical spring, c, whichwill press the jaws spart. v The ends bf thehandle-portions a a farthest from the jaws b b, are connected together by a strap, g, made of suitable springmetal,""wfhich is bent 'around the extremities.

of the handle-portions, and secured f 'sst thereto by means of screws., asehowu.'

u l'he metal strep d, which embraces the rectangular portions c atthe point-where the spring e-isapplied,

`and which prevents 'this spring from forcing the jswsltoo fer apart; isseuredlfast to one of the bars a, and its' two ends yare extended overthe sides of the opposite berg-and slotted,;se as to receivepins h through said ends.

The slots end vpins limit the 'spreading-*movementof the jsws,"bnt cllowthem to be pressed closely together. It will be seen'by reference to ilgf, that-theI--inner'faces of the jaws b b come together paralleL-and that these' l Afaces are formed of a materiel, g g,'which is different from .that of .which the jaw'eare made, which material is secured in piece bymeansof pins i s", and fer-rules ff. Inprefer to line the jaws-with4 India rubber, but any other substance which will answer the purpose may hel adopted. lI use r'uhbsrbecanse of its yielding andel'astic properties, and because it ie more durable than any other substances possessing those properties in like degree.

To use the instrument, its handle Yis grasped by one or both hande, and the jaws are made to gripe the stem of s plantwith more or'less force, according to the siz sand strength of the plant. Suicient forceis then applied to draw the plant straight up out of the ground. The hands are then relaxed-when the spring e will force the jaws epartrendyto receive another plant. The rubber liningg 1 -being rmly eecuredto the jaws, will allow p the stems. of plants to be embedded into it, and willl bold'the'stems s'ormly that the instrument Vcnnnol: slip,

and consequently, with very little oare,plants can be safely and with great facility extracted from the ground with such instrument. v

When the instrument is to be' usedrfor' weeds alone, the inner griping-f'uces of the jaws 6 b need not be coye'red with rubber, but, insteud thereof, they may .bel serrated, for, in extractingA Weeds, it is unimportant whether their stems be bruised or not. Y

y Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and .desire to .secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An'i'nst'rument which is adapted for the ex'tractionof pla-nts und Weeds, consistingof' handle-portions a a and jaws '6 6, united together by a. spring-strap, g, und provided with u slotted strap, d, and spring e, substnntiallys described -l i In suh an instrument, I also claim the elasticlining g'g, applied to the jaws b b, substantiallyv as desrribed.l

JAMES L KNICK.

Witnesses: JAMES WELLS,

WILLIAM Hr'KENNsnY. 

